Teen pregnancy a serious problem
Teen pregnancy a serious problem
JAKARTA (JP): Marriage is a serious topic of discussion. But
it could also be fun, especially if it involves teenagers, as was
demonstrated on Wednesday during a talk about teen marriage.
Hundreds of high school students who attended the event at
Bulungan Youth Stadium in South Jakarta, appeared intrigued when
psychologist Ninuk Widyantoro, the keynote speaker, started the
monthly discussion by saying that dating could be useful for the
teenagers, particularly to develop their personality.
Soon, the teens bombarded Ninuk with questions.
A student complained that his parents did not allow him to
have a girlfriend and asked the speaker's advice for "healthy
dating".
Ninuk explained that there was a generation gap between the
parents and the teens. The parents, who grew up in the past era,
held more conservative values compared to their children, who
lived in a permissive world, she said.
She suggested that instead of arguing with their parents, the
teens should be able to prove that courting does not negatively
affect their study.
About "healthy dating," she said: "If your date becomes
possessive and asks for sex, that is not healthy dating."
Unhealthy dating, she said, could result in teen pregnancies,
which mostly ended up in teen marriage.
She told the discussion, held by the Indonesian AIDS
Foundation, that teen marriage is actually not always the best
solution to the problem.
"It is not easy to build a family. You should be able to make
some mature, unselfish decisions," she said.
When a student asked Ninuk about the ideal prerequisites for
marriage, she replied that psychologically, there was no such
ideal since it depended on the couple themselves.
Teen marriage is not a problem if the couple are ready for it.
But it could become risky if the girl gets pregnant since the
girl's reproduction organs are still developing at that age.
"It could endanger her life," Ninuk remarked.
She cited without elaborating that the maternity death rate in
Indonesia is one of the highest in Asia.
"The government is not responsive to the problem," she said.
She had written two books about sex for teenagers as requested
by the National Family Planning Board but they had not been
published as they were considered "vulgar."
Ninuk said that most teen pregnancies were caused by ignorance
of the teens about sex.
"Information about sex is essential for them in this
permissive world. The government, NGOs and society should support
them with appropriate information about sex," she noted.
She called on the government to develop some crisis centers to
give guidance to teens who are pregnant.
She suggested that the centers should have psychologists and
doctors to support them. If the girls chose to have an abortion,
this should be accommodated, considering the fact that illegal
abortion is often not conducted properly endangering the lives of
both the mother and baby. (04)